In-letters and orders received by the Navy Board

No date recorded. Enclosure: The humble Petition of Charles Ardisoif in which he relates that he applied his specially invented compound to the side of the SHEERNESS and that despite the very poor condition of the timber with which the ship was sheathed the compound hardened the timber to a smooth finish much to the satisfaction of Sir Edward Gregory. It continues with examples of the savings that could be made in the cost of cleaning ships hulls and of prolonging ships' service at sea. It concludes with a claim that the compound would also be fire resistant.